Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) is designed to help people deal with their trauma one incident at a time by allowing the individual to talk about the incident when it happens without judgment or criticism. The program is peer-driven and the people giving the treatment may come from all walks of life, but most are first responders or work in the mental health field. The emphasis is always on keeping people safe and returning them quickly to more normal levels of functioning.

Critical incidents are traumatic events that cause powerful emotional reactions in people who are exposed to those events. Every profession can list their own worst case scenarios that can be categorized as critical incidents. Emergency services organizations, for example, usually list the Terrible Ten. They are: 1. Line of duty deaths 2. Suicide of a colleague 3. Serious work related injury 4. Multi-casualty / disaster / terrorism incidents 5. Events with a high degree of threat to the personnel 6. Significant events involving children 7. Events in which the victim is known to the personnel 8. Events with excessive media interest 9. Events that are prolonged and end with a negative outcome 10. Any significantly powerful, overwhelming distressing event